@article{dc8569f0ad664e0993a12c05e940e853,
title = "Genetic and environmental influences on the size of specific brain regions in midlife: The VETSA MRI study",
abstract = "The impact of genetic and environmental factors on human brain structure is of great importance for understanding normative cognitive and brain aging as well as neuropsychiatric disorders. However, most studies of genetic and environmental influences on human brain structure have either focused on global measures or have had samples that were too small for reliable estimates. Using the classical twin design, we assessed genetic, shared environmental, and individual-specific environmental influences on individual differences in the size of 96 brain regions of interest (ROIs). Participants were 474 middle-aged male twins (202 pairs; 70 unpaired) in the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA). They were 51-59 years old, and were similar to U.S. men in their age range in terms of sociodemographic and health characteristics. We measured thickness of cortical ROIs and volume of other ROIs. On average, genetic influences accounted for approximately 70% of the variance in the volume of global, subcortical, and ventricular ROIs and approximately 45% of the variance in the thickness of cortical ROIs. There was greater variability in the heritability of cortical ROIs (0.00-0.75) as compared with subcortical and ventricular ROIs (0.48-0.85). The results did not indicate lateralized heritability differences or greater genetic influences on the size of regions underlying higher cognitive functions. The findings provide key information for imaging genetic studies and other studies of brain phenotypes and endophenotypes. Longitudinal analysis will be needed to determine whether the degree of genetic and environmental influences changes for different ROIs from midlife to later life.",
keywords = "Brain structure, Cortical thickness, Heritability, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Twins",
author = "Kremen, {William S.} and Elizabeth Prom-Wormley and Panizzon, {Matthew S.} and Eyler, {Lisa T.} and Bruce Fischl and Neale, {Michael C.} and Franz, {Carol E.} and Lyons, {Michael J.} and Jennifer Pacheco and Perry, {Michele E.} and Allison Stevens and Schmitt, {J. Eric} and Grant, {Michael D.} and Seidman, {Larry J.} and Thermenos, {Heidi W.} and Tsuang, {Ming T.} and Eisen, {Seth A.} and Dale, {Anders M.} and Christine Fennema-Notestine",
note = "Funding Information: Funded by the National Institute on Aging (AG022381, AG018384, AG018386, AG022982); the National Center for Research Resources (P41-RR14075; NCRR BIRN Morphometric Project BIRN002); the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (R01EB006758); the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS052585-01); and the Mental Illness and Neuroscience Discovery (MIND) Institute, part of the National Alliance for Medical Image Computing (NAMIC), funded by the National Institutes of Health through the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, Grant U54 EB005149. Additional support was provided by The Autism & Dyslexia Project funded by the Ellison Medical Foundation. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has provided financial support for the development and maintenance of the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry. Numerous organizations have provided invaluable assistance in the conduct of this study, including the Department of Defense; the National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration; the Internal Revenue Service; the National Opinion Research Center; the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences; and the Institute for Survey Research, Temple University. Most importantly, the authors gratefully acknowledge the continued cooperation and participation of the members of the VET Registry and their families. Without their contribution this research would not have been possible. Appendix A Supplementary Table 1 : Regional brain volume measures adjusted for age, site, and total intracranial volume: heritabilities and 95% CIs based on univariate AE models. Supplementary Table 2 : Regional cortical thickness measures adjusted for age and site: heritabilities and 95% CIs based on univariate AE models. Appendix A ",
year = "2010",
month = jan,
day = "15",
doi = "10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.09.043",
language = "English",
volume = "49",
pages = "1213--1223",
journal = "NeuroImage",
issn = "1053-8119",
number = "2",
}